Visuals, Media, Literacy, Copyright

The Power of Visuals

uss_savannah.jpg
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-s/cl42.htm

"One remarkable aspect of visual recognition is that humans are able to recognize the meaning (or "gist", for a review, Oliva, 2005) of complex visual scenes within 1/20 of a second, independently of the quantity of objects in the image."
-Computational Visual Cognition Laboratory at MIT

Why use visuals to support learning in education?
WestEd has a great rationale online as well as resources, in Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners

What visual media can I use in the classroom?
  • Images you or your students take/create with your own equipment (if publishing, have a media release)
  • Images available to you to use by permission of the owner
  • Images available through a Creative Commons license


Students and educators should not simply "grab" images from Google; locating and using appropriate sources and the ethical use of media should be modeled!

Locating photographs and visuals for educational use
  • Compfight is a great stop for finding Creative Commons licensed products across multiple websites. There are some ads on the page. There are also images that can be purchased, so read and search carefully.
  • flickrSearch for Creative Commons licensed products
    • Enter a term in the flickr search box, click search, then click on the "Advanced Search" link, scroll and select "Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content"
  • Google Images- Search for images "labeled for reuse"
    • Enter a term in the google search box, then click on the Google Gear for the "Advanced Search" link, look for the drop down field for "Usage Rights" and select "Labeled for reuse"; click the Google Search button to complete your search
    • Google also hosts the LIFE magazine photo archive
  • Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog - searchable and rich collection of historical visuals
  • morgueFile has free images for commercial and noncommercial purposes
  • National Education Network has an extensive gallery available
  • Stock.xchnghas both free and for-purchase images. Registration is required. Note the terms of use of each item. Individuals may upload content to the site and add terms.
  • stockvault - free stock photos and images for personal, educational and non-commercial use
  • WorldImages - over 80,000 images free for non-profit educational use

Audio Resources
Sometimes you want an audio track to use for a podcast, background music for a presentation, etc. Here are some possible places!

Whenever a media selection is going to be used, even when licensed under a Creative Commons license or an image available for educational use, credit should be given to the original owner.

Clipart Sources

Consideration: How are you saving the URL so you may give appropriate credit? Suggestion - after saving the image to your computer, right click on the image, go to Properties, Summary, and save the Image Title, Creator, URL, etc.


Web-based Image editors - in addition to editing, note the special effects!


Downloadable photo editor
  • Picasa is a google product that makes organizing, editing, and sharing your photos easy.


Copyright

Creative Commons - read more about the licensing that allows content owners to make their work available on the internet. Works can be licensed for commercial and non commercial purposes.

JISC uses scenarios and is more relevant to post-secondary
Cyberbee is an interactive website with simple questions and answers.
Technology & Learning Magazine has a great article about copyright and a handy chart (PDF).
The U.S. Copyright office has a quick reference on fair use as well as an In depth publication, Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians (PDF)

Copyright, Cybercourtesy, & Cybersafety in a Creative Commons Age is a terrific wikipage with more thoughts and considerations and can be a rich discussion launching pad. (created by Cherice Montgomery,chericem1)




Evaluating information


Literacy Mattershas many resources for teachers and students
Seven Faces of Information Literacy(PDF PPT). This is an excellent, researched-based overview of information literacy.
"I now understand that education is about being empowered to learn rather than being dependent on the teacher for acquiring knowledge and skills."


  • How do you use information in your everyday life and work?
  • Remember the details of a time when you used information effectively
  • Think about your picture of an effective information user ( or information literate person)
  • Think about your experience of being ( or trying to be) an information literate person –what do you do? Easily? What do you struggle with?

Digital Citizenship

Do you and your students display good digital citizenship? Are you aware of privacy issues? How do you participate and share information online?
Check out this Be Legal and Fair in 21 Things for Students.


Acceptable Use Policies


Acceptable Use Policies in Web 2.0 & Mobile Era by the Consortium for School Networking Initiative